Springs, my palm sander has been acting up lately. His on/off switch stopped working correctly sometime around midway through the downstairs hallway. While I was working on the dining room and stairs, I managed to get him to work, usually after a few minutes and judicious application of the Fonzie technique (aka hitting it and trying to look cool while making random vowel noises).
As of today, Springs has given up the ghost. I tried the "on" position of the switch, and nothing. Then I tried "off" and it sputtered and turned on. I managed to do the edges of about half the room before I needed to switch sand paper. I decided that rather than risk the switch not working, I'd just plug and unplug. This, as it turns out, was not especially easy... it takes two hands to plug something into an extension cord, and one hand to hold the sander to keep it from going bonkers all over. Needless to say, the Supervisor was not interested in assisting.
The switch is covered by thin rubber, which has torn over the years and there seemed to be a lot of dust inside, which I thought might be keeping the switch from working properly. I had no other choice, but to scrub in, don my mask, and attempt a surgical intervention.
The patient was prepped using some canned air. No anesthesia was available, but I did laugh hysterically imagining Springs screaming "no disassemble!" as I approached with the screwdriver. They say laughter is the best anesthesia, right?
Once the top of his skull was removed, and the inner workings were revealed they were thoroughly vacuumed and air-sprayed out. I mostly took pictures so that I could remember what went where when I was reassembling.
I got the switch out, and cleaned it off with alcohol. I cleaned out the rubber covering too. The switch still had trouble moving, even when it was clean, which didn't seem like a good sign.
I took a look at the wiring to the switch, only to find that it had charred its protective foam covering. I suspect it has a short and needs soldering. I don't have the materials to fix this, so I put Springs back together again.
The operation was not a success. This shouldn't be a surprise, I have never been able to remove the Charlie Horse without causing an ear-splitting buzz. When Springs was back together, he still wouldn't turn on and off. After a consulting call to Science Doctor Dad, I made a trip to Home Despot and picked out a replacement.
The new palm sander covers more area, and joy-of-joys, hooks directly up to Stanley for dust removal. This is amazing. I am thrilled with this strange new beast, not just because it reminds me of a Pushmi-Pullyu, but because it will do wonders for keeping dust down when I'm sanding the filler. I had to test it out, even though it was 9PM and I knew it might wake the neighbour's baby. I'm sure they'll understand.
Springs is dead! Long live (the new) Springs!
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